


Voice

by TheOculusRift



Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Bullying, Depression, Disability, Extreme Abuse, F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Suicide Attempt, This isn’t a killing game but it’s a pretty messed up world
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-05-13 04:08:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14741724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheOculusRift/pseuds/TheOculusRift
Summary: Kokichi was the prankster, the bad boy that people liked to hang around. He made everything fun.Kaede was a kind and gentle girl who could make anyone smile if they gave her a chance. She had a strange obsession with the piano and in general was shy and awkward.They met in elementary school and changed each other’s lives forever.If only, it had been a positive change instead of a negative.There’s no going back now.Inspired by Koe no Katachi. Most of the ideas are mine but it felt right to give it credit





	1. Prologue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m super excited to try this fic! I haven’t done too much extensive planning, but I have an idea for where I want this to head. And just so you know, I like to spell Kokichi’s last name O-U-M-A instead of O-M-A. It just looks more normal to me sooooo, that’ll be happening.
> 
> Oumaede is a pretty rare ship and I actually like it a lot. Those two a fairly different but at the same time, they have a good amount of similarities to each other.
> 
> I’m not used to writing characters like Kokichi or some of the other DR characters but I’m willing to give my best shot! After all, Kokichi and Kaede are in my top three favorites! The other one in my top three is Maki (although in general, I love all the characters, even Tsumugi despite her killing Kaede. She’s not the best written character but for what they’ve done with her, she is a vey well done mastermind).
> 
> Just a quick warning: I have no clue how bad this’ll get but if you aren’t good with depression topics and other stuff along the line of “not for the faint of heart”, then you may want to be careful. I don’t hold back.

Where did it all go wrong? When did it get out of hand?

 

He couldn’t remember, and he didn’t want to remember.

 

Why should he care anymore? She wasn’t involved with his affairs.

 

Yet he couldn’t get her out of his head.

 

That face she made... it still haunted him.

 

******

 

Flashback: Elementary School...

 

They were here an odd bunch. No one thought they would get along, but they did. Each one of them were so different compared on another.

 

Saihara Shuichi was an unconfident and gentle boy, who tended to be very timid and cautious. Momota Kaito was the opposite. He was confident and brave who always went with his gut instead of his brain. And Ouma Kokichi... well he was clever, deceptive. A very compulsive liar and yet also a purposeful liar. 

 

All of them seemed to have nothing in common and yet they did. They all enjoyed pranks and being bad. Out of them all, Shuichi seemed the least likely to have that kind of personality but in reality, he could be quite rude. His quick observations made it easy for him to figure out how to mess with someone. 

 

Kaito was just blunt. He enjoyed thrills and adventure. And when it came to people, he didn’t spare them from little lies. He straight up told them what he thought of them, whether it be mean or kind, and most of his thoughts were hastily made. The spikey haired boy loved pranks more than anything, simply because he got to see something that wasn’t boring.

 

Kokichi was always a bully. Well, he didn’t call himself a bully, but some of the lame kids would. Messing with people was his speciality, whether it was psychological or even physical (it wasn’t often he was physical, but he did do it). People’s reactions were his entertainment and he truly didn’t care if he made a person cry. After all, he never had any kind of attachment to the people who he messed with. And because of his bad boy style, he was the most popular person in school since he actually made things fun.

 

The three bonded over their common traits and had quickly become friends. Every day they hung out, went on mini adventures and messed with a person or more.

 

”Geez, this is soooo boring!” Kokichi whined, overexaggerating it with a very large eye roll.

 

”Shut it shrimpy!” Iruma Miu snapped, always trying to find a reason to tell off the short boy. 

 

”Oh I’m sooooo scared skank~!”

 

”S-Skank?!”

 

The pale blonde haired girl’s face went red from anger and pleasure. He knew she was a bit of a masochist so it only made it even funnier to him.

 

”But seriously, where is the teacher?”

 

Kaito looked around the teacher absent classroom. The kids had been fooling around for the past 10 minutes and still no adult.

 

”Shouldn’t you be happy Kaito? After all, you never do any of the work,” The capped boy pointed out.

 

”Hey! I do some of the work Shuichi!”

 

”Sure you do...” He said sarcastically.

 

”Grrr...”

 

”Uh oh, watch out Saihara-Chan! Momota-Chan is maaaaad!” The messy haired boy snickered.

 

”Kokichi, you’re not-“

 

”Get over here Shuichi! My fist wants to talk!”

 

”Gah! Kaito! Get away!”

 

The two boys ran around the room, the spikey haired one shouting threats while the capped boy ran for his life.

 

”Oi! Settle down!”

 

The sliding door slammed open and an angry Owada Mondo came walking in.

 

”Oh no, it’s the demon Owada-Sensei,” The liar cried out and pointed, a fake look of horror on his face.

 

”Kid, you are lucky you’re in elementary school because I could rip your... no. I’m not going there. All of you brats sit down!”

 

Every student obediently followed his directions, too afraid to defy the much bigger and stronger man. Even Kokichi knew not to push too hard.

 

That didn’t stop him from trying.

 

”Alright, you guys have a new classmate starting today. Akamatsu, come on in and introduce yourself.”

 

At his words, a girl walked into the room. She was rather petite, but not as much as Yumeno Himiko, who was by far the shortest girl. Her hair was a darker blonde than Miu’s bleach-like blonde hair and it was a bit shorter too. When she turned to face the class, Kokichi could see musical note hairpins holding back her longish hair from hanging in her face.

 

His dark purple eyes met her much warmer and kinder light purple eyes. For a split second, he swore he could see something more, but she looked back at the rest of the class before he could do anything.

 

With white chalk, she wrote her name on the board and turned back to face the intrigued group of kids.

 

”My name is Akamatsu Kaede. I recently moved here and I hope we can get along,” She said with a bow.

 

Her voice was weak, hoarse almost, like every word was straining her. Out of the corner of his eye, the liar could see her fist clench slightly out of pain.

 

_Now this is interesting..._ He thought with a smirk.

 

”Is it okay if I mention it?”

 

The girl nodded at the teacher and in a loud voice, he began.

 

”Alrigjt brats, just a heads up about our new student. At this current moment, she has partially damaged vocal cords, so talking in large amounts or talking loudly is hard for her to do without damaging and straining them. So, for most of the year, she will be talking through writing. If you do anything to worsen this condition, I will bring this up with her family and there will be severe consequences, got it?”

 

Mondo stared down the children harshly, who all yelped out a yes. Well, everyone except Kokichi who just let out a groan.

 

”Ouma...” The man growled, a death glare on his face.

 

”Fine~ I won’t harass the new girl,” He mocked, his tone whiny and high pitch.

 

”OUMA!”

 

The child flinched, not used to the older man yelling that hard. The teacher’s face was red with anger, not taking the attitude his problem student was giving.

 

”O-Okay... I’m sorry...” The messy haired boy mumbled, suddenly feeling a bit more scared.

 

”Good,” Mondo huffed. He pointed to the desk next to Harukawa Maki. ”Akamatsu, you’ll sit there. Harukawa, you’ll be her guide, got it?”

 

The red eyed girl nodded, although her expression was anything but kind.

 

With a warm smile, the new girl walked over to Maki, taking her seat. She gave her a friendly wave, but her new neighbor simply huffed and looked away.

 

Kokichi had been observing Maki for a long time, mainly because she was such a mystery. She wasn’t expressive in the slightest and kept people away from her as far as possible. He had deduced that it was mainly a personality trait, but he couldn’t help but believe there was more. No one in the class had managed to get her trust.

 

_I wonder if little Akamatsu-Chan can earn it..._

 

He couldn’t wait to see.

 

******

 

He had to admit: the new girl was intriguing.

 

Despite lacking her voice, her bright and cheerful personality shined through once she started to get used to everyone. At first, she looked scared and nervous, awkwardly smiling and making weird comments on her notebook she used to communicate.

 

Chabashira Tenko was the first to approach Kaede once the free period had begun. The aikido lover had fended off every guy who even attempted to try and talk to the blonde while she was there and it took Himiko and Tojou Kirumi to persuade her to let the boys talk to Kaede.

 

”Flithly males,” The energetic girl growled. ”I should be protecting Akamatsu-San from them now...”

 

”Please refrain Tenko,” Kirumi insisted. ”The last thing you need is for Owada-Sensei to yell at you for getting in another fight with the boys.”

 

”Agreed...” The petite girl chimed in, her voice monotone and lethargic. ”I don’t want to go through that again... it was such a pain...”

 

Meanwhile, the other students had surrounded Kaede in a circle around her desk, all of them trying to ask questions.

 

”Where did you come from?” Amami Rantaro asked with the same relaxed smile he wore all the time.

 

”Do you like anime?” Shirogane Tsumugi asked intently, her eyes big and excited.

 

”Gonta hopes we can be friends!” Gokuhara Gonta grinned happily.

 

”Welcome to this class. I’ll warn you, everyone is crazy,” Hoshi Ryouma muttered, fiddling with his beanie hat.

 

”Atua and I are glad to meet you! Do you want to give a blood sacrifice to him?” Yonaga Angie smiled eagerly. She always managed to creep Kokichi out somehow, he just didn’t know why.

 

”I wonder... would you like to meet my sister...?” Shinguji Korekiyo murmured, saying this more himself than asking Kaede.

 

”I’d love to get to know you better Akamatsu-San! Are you interested in robotics?” Idabashi Keebo questioned.

 

”I’m the gorgeous girl genius of this world, Iruma Miu! You better get used to licking my feet dumpy tits cuz that’s all you’ll be doing pleb!” The pale blonde laughed. How she knew such fowl language? No one knew and no one asked. That was a place no one dared go.

 

”I’m Momota Kaito, the future luminary of the stars! Well, actually, I already am!” The spiked haired boy boasted, puffing out his chest.

 

”Um, I’m Saihara Shuichi. It’s nice to meet you Akamatsu-San...” The capped boy greeted timidly, his face mildly flushed.

 

”Harukawa Maki. I’ll be guiding you around. That doesn’t mean we’ll be friends,” The cold girl said, no feeling in her voice.

 

Kaede simply smiled as she was bombarded with questions. A normal person wouldn’t be able to keep up, but she seemed to here everything they were saying.

 

She nodded and using her notebook, she wrote out her answers.

 

”Amami-San: I moved to here from Hokkaido because of my father. Shirogane-San: I don’t really watch anime, but a friend tried to get me into it. What would you recommend? Gokuhara-San: I’d love to be friends, although, I’m not exactly great for conversation as you can see. Hoshi-San: Thank you and I’m sure I’ll be fine. I know many weird and strange people! Yonaga-San: Thank you and I can’t. I’m anemic so I can’t really help you. Shinguji-San: Yes I did hear you. I have very good hearing from playing piano and once we know each other better I’d be happy to meet your sister! Idabashi-San: Me too! And I don’t know anything about robotics but I’m up to learning! Iruma-San: Um... nice to meet you? I don’t know about the “licking your feet” and being called “dumpy tits” but I’d like to become friends. Momota-San: You’re into space? That’s very cool! Tell me about what you know some time! Saihara-San: It’s nice to meet you too! Also, be more confident with your voice! I’m sure you’d look even tougher if you had a bit more confidence as you spoke! Harukawa-San: I’ll be relying on you for directions! And I’m sure we’ll grow to be friends~ It’s just a matter of time!”

 

”Whoa! She heard all of us!” Kaito exclaimed, looking at the notebook intently.

 

”Interesting... but isn’t that kinda creepy?”

 

The students turned their heads and were faced with a smirking Kokichi, his eyes filling with mischief.

 

”What do you mean Kokichi?” His capped friend asked.

 

”I mean, normal people shouldn’t be able to decipher that jumble of sounds. Isn’t that freaky?”

 

”Hey! No harassing her menace!” Tenko snapped, walking towards him with fighting intent.

 

”Tenko,” Kirumi said firmly, placing a hand on her shoulder. 

 

”I’m right though. Akamatsu-Chan isn’t normal. She’s a freak.”

 

The liar turned his gaze to the new girl who looked hurt and angry. She got out of her seat and began to walk towards him, notebook in hand.

 

”Oh what? Are you going to yell at me? You can’t even talk,” He provoked, sticking his tongue out obnoxiously.

 

The blonde stopped in front of him and wrote out some words. Then, with determination in her eyes, she showed her response to the boy.

 

”Why do you look so empty?”

 

_What?_

 

His eyes widened and he read the words again. He kept looking to see if he was just imagining things, but he wasn’t.

 

_How... does she see that...?_

 

_Not even our detective in training could see this..._

 

_So how can you?!_

 

Suddenly, all he could feel was rage. Unbridled and hot anger.

 

Without warning, he shoved the girl, causing her to fall to the ground with a loud crash. 

 

”That’s it! You’re going to die menace!”

 

A fist flew at the small boy, but his reflexes were quick. He easily evaded the  attack, ducking down and then pushed the fighter away, his focus on Kaede.

 

”You really pissed me off you know? I don’t know what you’re trying to do, but know that I’m not going to be buddy buddy with you freak. You got that?” Kokichi snarled.

 

Kaede glared at him, but he could see sadness in her eyes. No matter how he analyzed her, he couldn’t understand it.

 

That face, was one he couldn’t understand.

 

Or it was more like he didn’t try to.

 

He clicked his tongue and turned away, walking back to his desk.

 

He swore at that moment, that she would pay for what she said. No one talked to him that way and got away with it.

 

A sadistic smile formed on his face, but no one else saw.

 

_Akamatsu Kaede... you’ll be my new play toy._

 

******

 

Present Day...

 

He shook his head, ridding himself of the memories. It didn’t matter now.

 

The end product, was not something he was involved with anymore.

 

Her fate was not his fault.

 

It wasn’t his fault.

 

His fault...

 

_No! It’s not mine! It can’t be... it..._

 

Nothing could convince him anymore. Everyday he saw her, and everyday he was reminded of what he had started.

 

This was his fault.

 

His actions brought her into hell. And soon after, he ended up joining her too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished the prologue!!!! I was originally going to make this the first chapter but then I realized I didn’t want it to be. Soooo it turned into this prologue instead. I’m definitely not used to writing this types a characters but hopefully I can get better. There personalities are relatively then same, but I will do some changes and maybe that’ll make them easier to work with.  
> I hope you enjoyed reading!


	2. CH. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m currently debating whether to keep it at a T rating or change it to a Mature rating. The language is going to get stronger and the subjects are pretty dark so I may change it to mature. If you have any ideas about what I should do about this, please tell me in the comments.

Another day of torture and agony in hell.

 

It was the only way to describe his life now. Anything else wouldn’t really be true. He could try to sugar coat it, but at this point, even trying to lie to himself about it was pointless.

 

Kokichi trudged his way to school, ready to hear all the students’ slurs and insults. Heck, he was even ready for Kaito and Shuichi to come beat the shit out of him. He really didn’t care anymore. It was hard to care about it when even he thought he deserved it all.

 

As soon as one student saw him enter the school premises, it began. He could hear them, the hate in their voices, the rage in their eyes, the disgust in their body language. They acted as if he was the plague.

 

The students kept their distance, but that didn’t stop their comments from being unheard.

 

”Filthy liar.”

 

”Sewer rat.”

 

”Asshole.”

 

”Shitty brat.”

 

”Disgusting.”

 

His eats just took it all in. The words didn’t filter out and fade away. No, he let them in. He embraced their comments and took them in, fueling his growing guilt.

 

”OI! Get over here you fucker!”

 

A familiar booming voice called Kokichi over and he turned his tired head to see Kaito and Shuichi, mischievous and sadistic smiles on their faces.

 

”Time to make you pay for your sins.”

 

He sighed. It didn’t matter if he willingly went over there or just stayed where he was. Those two would beat him up either way, and no one would stop them, not even the teachers. After all, they hated him too.

 

So, the liar stood there, ready for whatever pain he was about to feel. The two other boys looked at each other and ran up to Kokichi, first with Kaito giving him a hard punch to the gut and Shuichi kicking him in the back.

 

”How does it feel you shitty little fuck?” The spiked haired boy taunted. ”You deserve every bit of it.”

 

”Your just an idiot who didn’t know when to stop,” Shuichi hissed as he kicked the shirt boy again.

 

Kokichi let out grunts as he was pummeled. By the time they were done, homeroom was about to begin.

 

”Hope you like tasting dirt for awhile you disgusting bully.”

 

His former friends walked off, leaving him on the ground. His uniform was dirty and he could taste blood in his mouth. A hand inspected his chest. His ribs were definitely bruised horribly.

 

The boy struggled to his feet and limped his way into the building.

 

 _Just another day,_ He told himself.

 

_Just another shitty day._

 

******

 

”Ouma?”

 

”I’m here Hinata-Sensei. Sorry for being late.”

 

”I almost marked you absent again. Please try to make it here on time next time.”

 

”Yes Sensei, I’m sorry.”

 

His old, rambunctious self would never say something like that. That Kokichi would’ve laughed and grinned and said something rude. But his present day self knew that doing something like that in his current situation was stupid. He would be practically asking to be beaten up more.

 

Trudging to his seat, he tried his best to ignore the whispering students, all of their glares and laughs. It was kinda ironic in some ways. He was being bullied for being a bully and the people who hated him for being a bully were now bullying him. It went against the morals they and for even disliking him in the first place. To say you don’t like bullies and then become one yourself, well, that’s just hypocritical.

 

And yet, the students did exactly that and they enjoyed every minutes he suffered.

 

He stood frozen at his desk. Hinata Hajime raised an eyebrow.

 

”Ouma, please sit down. Class is starting.”

 

”Sorry Hinata-Sensei, I will.”

 

Kokichi took one last glance at the chair and then clenched his teeth. He lowered himself down on his glue and tack covered seat, his body tensing at the jolts of pain. It stung like hell, but it didn’t hurt as much as Kaito and Shuichi’s pummeling. But getting the tacks out of his skin later was going to be a painful and bloody mess. And with his pants covered in glue, it was going to be even more fun to try and get out of his chair. 

 

As the teacher finished taking attendance, the boy took out his notebook, trying to distract himself. It was still only homeroom so he had a bit until he actually had to pay attention. He made small doodles on the paper: a small clown, a plane, a mask, some random squares. All kinds of mini drawings filled the pages. He kept his eyes fixed on the paper, ignoring the hateful words written on and carved into his desk.

 

**Die you filthy scum.**

**You don’t deserve to live.**

**You’re a monster.**

**Rat.**

**Liar.**

 

**You should just kill yourself.**

 

**The world would be better without people like you.**

 

_Why?_

 

He didn’t understand why he couldn’t ignore it. For the longest time he didn’t pay attention to any of it. He had just accepted it and moved on.

 

So why was it stabbing him in the heart now?

 

Kokichi wanted to scream, to curse and yell out. He wanted to ~~kill himself painfully~~  punch someone.

 

The eyes of his classmates seemed to sneer at him as he stared down at his desk, holding back angry tears.

 

Class seemed longer than normal.

 

And Kokichi hated it.

 

******

 

Lunch finally came. Although, he wasn’t exactly thrilled about it. After all, he never got to eat his food.

 

And if on cue, the bleach blonde Miu snatched his sandwich from his hands.

 

”Thanks for the grub shitface!”

 

Kokichi just sighed and walked out of the classroom and headed for the roof.

 

None of the students were allowed up there so of course, he went there to escape.

 

He crept up the stairs and using his trusty tools, he picked the door open. 

 

A cool breeze hit his skin as soon as he stepped out into the exposed area.

 

The roof was surrounded by a tall metal mesh fence from long ago. It had gotten rusty over the years but it was still in good shape. 

 

The only reason students had been forbidden to go up there to eat or do activities up there was because of three friends committing suicide up there.

 

Apparently, the students had been suffering from extreme depression and weren’t treated well at school. Soon it had just become too much for them all and the three had agreed to kill themselves. They came up to the roof, climbed over the fence and then they all jumped off and were found in a bloody splatter on the ground.

 

Since then, the school closed the roof off, not wanting to give students a way to kill themselves at the facility. But it didn’t really work. The teens were way more clever than the adults could plan for so basically the restriction was useless.

 

The short boy laid down on the floor, staring at the sky. It seemed bluer than normal, with only a few puffy clouds visible to the eye.

 

It was such a beautiful day and yet here he was, seeing nothing but ugliness.

 

When every second of your life felt like someone was repeatedly shooting you in the head, it became hard to enjoy life.

 

But even though he wanted it to stop, he still believed he deserved to suffer. He deserved it to atone for what he did to her.

 

He had managed to avoid seeing her the entire day. The last time he saw her he nearly vomited. It pained Kokichi to see what his actions had caused.

 

While most of it wasn’t his work, he couldn’t deny that he had started it and let it grow into something much more horrifying.

 

”If I could go back, I would...” He muttered, closing his eyes.

 

Kokichi would do anything to go back and fix what he did. And he meant it.

 

He should’ve made her smile, not cry.

 

He should’ve tried to make her feel welcome, not lie behind her back and bully her.

 

He should’ve helped her, not punch and kick her.

 

He should’ve given her a chance, not take away what little she already had.

 

He bit his lip, the taste of blood filling his mouth once again. A liar like him didn’t deserve to live.

 

**He didn’t deserve to be breathing.**

 

******

 

Kokichi’s eyes flickered open and he sat up, rubbing his eyes. The sky had turned from blue to orange.

 

”Did I fall asleep?”

 

He got up and peered at the fromt courtyard from behind the fence. Students were exiting the building, chatting and and smiling as they walked past the open gate.

 

”Guess I missed the rest of my classes... not that I cared really,” The boy mumbled.

 

He gathered himself and left the roof, making sure to lock the door before he left. The hallways were empty and silent, as most of the students had already left or were at their clubs.

 

Kokichi liked the quiet. He let him think in peace and of course, it usually meant no one was around him. Silence meant peace from torment and pain.

 

His footsteps echoed on the smooth tile floor and sunlight flickered into and out of his line of sight. 

 

Dull purple eyes stared blankly at the world in front of him, just functioning enough to let him navigate out of the building.

 

He climbed down another flight of stairs and turned the corner, and the shoe lockers were in his sight.

 

”Time to get out of this hell hole.”

 

He quickened his pace and jogged up to his locker. It looked like a mess, with dents and carvings dug into the metal. The word “FUCKER” was the biggest carving, most likely done by Kaito he had assumed. It was his favorite thing to call him.

 

He unlocked the small cubic locker and pulled out his outdoor shoes, making sure to shake out all of the thumb tacks that Shuichi had most likely put in them.

 

The small little pointy devices clattered to the floor with a quiet clacking noise.

 

Carefully avoiding stepping on the tacks, he took off his school shoes and slipped the other pair on.

 

He locked the destroyed shoe holder and with his bag slung on his shoulder, he headed out of the school.

 

He survived another day.

 

He wasn’t happy about it though.

 

He should be dead. 

 

But all Kokichi could do was plan for the next day in the clutches of the devil.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s a bit short I know, but I still hope it was enjoyable. Or whatever enjoyable is in an angst filled story.
> 
> No Kaede yet but she’ll make her appearance next chapter. I just wanted to focus on Kokichi today and his normal day at school. My own writing is making me feel bad for characters. I just wanted to give the boy a hug the entire time.
> 
> I’ll try to get out the next chapter soon but don’t go expecting anything. I’m a slow writer.


	3. CH. 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another chapter! Whooooo!  
> And also, I think I may change this to an M rating. It depends on how I plan out a few of these future chapters.  
> But then again, I’m probably going to forget.

Kokichi woke up to the sound of his blaring alarm clock and the gentle tweeting of a sparrow outside.

 

With a groan, he shifted his body to the side and turned the alarm off.

 

He didn’t want to go to school, but he couldn’t bring himself to disappoint his mom.

 

Like father like son, Kokichi’s dad, Gisou Satoshi, was a lying cocky asshole. A few years ago, his mom discovered that his old man had been cheating on her with several women. And it hadn’t even been romantic either. He paid for prostitues and fucked them senseless every single day he had been married. 

 

His shit of a dad had a family to care for, but all he cared about was sex.

 

Kokichi’s mom, Ouma Hanako, had been heart broken and angry. She immediately got divorce papers done. The process wasn’t done yet, but it was almost complete and would be done by the end of the month.

 

But even the divorce didn’t help heal what scars the man had left.

 

His family lost a lot of money from his dad paying for women and love hotels. Kokichi has been afraid that they had gone into debt but his mom reassured him that they didn’t lose that much. 

 

His mom had to go back to working so most of the time, she was away from the house, slowly earning back what she had lost

 

He didn’t want to hurt his mom who had already been through so much with his life. He was the one who brought all his pain onto himself. She didn’t need to be dragged into it.

 

So, he dragged himself out of bed and got ready for another day at school.

 

_Just another day of hell on earth... what fun..._

 

******

 

Kokichi’s morning seemed normal until he walked into the school premises.

 

Usually, he would hear people cursing at him and calling him stupid names, but this morning, there was no one doing that to him.

 

He would’ve been happy about it if he didn’t know the reason why.

 

The liar dashed into the building, avoiding the crowd of people near the big tree in the courtyard. He tried to block out their cheers and slurs. He tried to block out their twisted laughs and snarls.

 

He tried to block out the sound of kicks and punches.

 

Why?

 

Because when she was at school, he didn’t become Kaito and Shuichi’s main target and it made him absolutely sick to see her like that.

 

_I can’t..._

 

He kept running.

 

_I’m sorry Akamatsu-Chan... I just can’t do it... I’m just not brave enough to face what I’ve done..._

_Please forgive me..._

 

******

 

Akamatsu Kaede looked like an ordinary girl. She didn’t seem like someone who would cause anyone trouble. In fact, she had often gotten comments saying she looked really nice and approachable.

 

And yet, here she was, being beaten up by her fellow classmates and she couldn’t do a thing.

 

”Pathetic little piece of crap. Your little act isn’t going to fool anyone anymore!”

 

Another kick, and another soundless gasp.

 

But she didn’t scream. 

 

She didnt scream because she couldn’t.

 

Her voice was long gone because of him. 

 

His lies dragged her into this hellhole of abuse and depression.

 

But for some reason, she couldn’t hate him. 

 

She should hate him, despise him and wish for existence to vanish, and yet she couldn’t bring herself to do that.

 

So she just endured and took it all. Kicks and punches, their cruel words and slurs, their dirty looks and graffiti they left on her desk and locker, the damage they did to her belongings.

 

Kaede endured the abuse again, her desire to die growing even more.

 

******

 

How did any of this happen to her? 

 

Him.

 

Kokichi spread a rumor that she was a lying fox who would seduce people and force them to do what she wanted. Like some sort of enchantress or succubus. He made her nice personality appear like an act to the other students.

 

And for some reason, they were all stupid enough to still believe that.

 

But rumors like that shouldn’t be enough to cause the kind of abuse she was enduring. That much was obvious.

 

But she knew why. The answer was her own actions.

 

All her own actions only ended up fueling Kokichi’s lies. He twisted her words to become something deceitful and made her actions cause trouble for others. She transformed into a villain. She became someone who brought misfortune. People began to jump on and spread lies of their own too, making her seem even more horrible.

 

No one trusted her and no one liked her.

 

All because she fucked up in elementary school.

 

It seemed so stupid. For something small like that, something that started in an elementary school when they were all little children, to grow into something horrible and to continue to torment her for years.

 

She couldn’t help but question if she was going delusional.

 

But the bruises on her body were real.

 

The scars from her cutting herself were real.

 

It didn’t make sense. None of it did.

 

Logic didn’t exist in this world.

 

Only lies and trickery.

 

The best release from all of this, would be to  ~~try to kill herself~~ ~~again~~  move away at the end of high school. Run far far away from all the people she knew here.

 

But to get that ending, meant she would have to endure 2 more years of high school.

 

And she didn’t know how much more she could take.

 

******

 

He couldn’t stop hyperventilating.

 

His heart wouldn’t stop pounding.

 

Kokichi stood in the bathroom alone, staring himself in the eyes in the mirror.

 

He wanted nothing more than to tear his face apart and watch himself bleed.

 

He deserved it after all.

 

He was a filthy liar who ruined someone’s life forever. 

 

”God... why... they know I was lying... they know I hurt her... they know... so why...”

 

He sobbed into the sink.

 

”Why the fuck do they keep torturing her?! She doesn’t deserve it! She... shouldn’t have to feel this pain anymore...”

 

None of it made any sense. His lies and rumors were discovered years ago, and yet, somehow, despite everyone knowing they were lies, they still believed them. Was it just the naïveté of children? They knew the truth, but still thought his lies were the truth? 

 

There was no logic to it. No reason to believe his lies.

 

And yet they did.

 

Maybe it was because they just wanted to keep having something to amuse their sick brains. He could picture it being that answer. After all, when they were young, they were all sick and twisted brats who enjoyed tormenting others more than anything.

 

The idea of doing that now made Kokichi want to vomit.

 

They continued to torture her over rumors and lies when she hadn’t even done anything to them.

 

He wanted to kill them for doing that.

 

She never fought back, she never complained, she never resisted, nothing.

 

She just took the unfair treatment.

 

She didn’t protest or scream for help.

 

Well not that she could scream for help since he was the one who took her voice away.

 

The liar stopped crying and looked at himself again.

 

”It would be nice if my face looked more masculine or mature... I still look like a kid... and it only reminds me of that day...”

 

Years back, he stole Kaede’s voice.

 

The liar, the self-proclaimed supreme leader and phantom thief, years ago made his biggest, most horrific act.

 

He injured Akamatsu Kaede and damaged her vocal cords severely.

 

But that’s not where his crime ended.

 

He injured that girl, bullied her and treated her like a punching bag.

 

And in the end, he drove her to commit an unsuccessful suicide, which destroyed her vocal cords forever.

 

Ouma Kokichi became a monster.

 

_Heh... I guess it’s fitting for the monster to be thrown into hell..._

 

He wished deep in his heart he could fix the damage he did.

 

But he couldn’t revert time even if he wanted to.

 

What happened, happened. 

 

He couldn’t reverse what he did.

 

He would live with the consequences forever.

 

That... was hell’s judgement.

 

******

 

Kaede picked herself off the ground. Her body aches and burned, the wounds still fresh and bleeding.

 

She looked and felt like an utter mess.

 

On trembling legs, she started to walk to class. Every inch of her body wanted to fall apart and collapse but she kept going.

 

No matter how battered she was, she still was a good student and person and she also didn’t want to give any of the students the satisfaction of breaking her very weak spirit.

 

But the fire dancing along her skin was saying otherwise.

 

She sucked in a pained breath. It didn’t help that breathing hurt her as well. Ever since her vocal cords were damaged, it also had effected her breathing significantly. It was harder and much more agonizing to make herself breathe in and out.

 

The blonde winced and gritted her teeth, ignoring her blurring vision and shaking legs.

 

If she had someone to help her walk, the trip would be less painful.

 

But she didn’t have anyone like that.

 

No one liked her.

 

She had a friend once, but she moved away. They had stayed in touch for awhile but eventually lost contact.

 

Kaede wished that her friend was here now.

 

_Maybe life would be more bearable with her..._

 

But that was just a simple wish.

 

A pipe dream.

 

There wasn’t an escape from this void.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finished! It’s a bit short but I didn’t want to rush the plot. I had a ton of big reveals and I wanted to allow time for people to soak it all in first before I continued on.  
> This is a lot of fun to write and I can’t wait to do more! I hope you all enjoyed!


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